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Hey everyone It’s “Dave” – Interview with Azpilicueta

Cesar Azpilicueta (pronounced Ath-Pilly-Kweta). Some people on twitter have already given up on pronouncing his name and adopted the famous Only Fools and Horses joke for him as a nickname. Yes, Dave. The 22 year old from Pamplona, one of Chelsea’s recent signings done an interview with RMC Sport following his announced transfer and spoke about his future, what we can expect from him and what it means to him to be a Chelsea player.

RMC: How do you feel after your transfer to Chelsea FC?

Azpilicueta: “I’m very happy to be at Chelsea. This is a league I wanted to discover. I really wanted to be a part of this team and had in order to grow as a footballer.”

The negotiations seemed to drag on a bit. Were you worried that the deal would fall through?

“The press said some things that weren’t always true. It was a bit tiring hearing and reading these things. Only myself and my entourage knew what was really going on so I was trying not to listen to what was being said, but it’s true that it was a rather long process, difficult at times, yet it finished well, so that’s what’s important.”

Your first training session with Chelsea must have been a great moment. How did it go?

“It went really well because when I arrived, they greeted me warmly with open arms to help me out especially Mata & Torres who speak Spanish… There are a lot of players who are ready to lend me a helping hand and that is very important. This is a very good group. It was a bit intimidating as it was my first time but I did the best I could.”

Torres and Mata are with you at the club. Is it important for your integration to have Spanish players at the club?

“Yes, it is very important to have Spanish teammates as it is easy for me to communicate, but I have to try and settle in as quickly as possible. Even if there are Spanish people at the club, I am going to try to get to know everyone as soon as possible as it is important to have good relationships within the club.”

Do you realise that you are at Chelsea, the European champions?

“I’m currently doing well in my progression, it allows me to step things up in my career and it is very important after all the work I did at Marseille to end up here. For me, this was a great opportunity. I am going to do my best to repay the faith that they have shown in me.”

What does the Premier League mean to you?

“It’s an extremely competitive league and I will have to try and progress and grow as a player in order to win titles as that is my main aim.”

With Chelsea, is your aim to make your way back into the Spain squad?

“Of course. I have set myself the aim to play as many games as possible and I will work hard to, hopefully one day, be part of the Spain team again.”

Was Marseille a stepping stone for you?

“I have lived through different stages in my career. I came to Marseille and I’d like to thank the fans who helped me a lot. We lived through hard times with results not always going our way, but I always gave it my all because that was the best way to progress. I will keep great memories from my time spent there, but I hope that things will go well here, now.

Sadly, Cesar won’t feature in today’s game having not been registered in time but this is a player full of potential and will be able to fit right into this new and more fluid Chelsea system. Good luck for the season “Dave”.

A very big thank you to @sardinetrawler for translating the interview and be sure to check out his wonderful blog right here